Last week, the World Economic Forum held its 55th Annual Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, where more than 3,000 global leaders from both the public and private sectors attended to address key regional and global challenges. The forum discussed the challenges facing our society today and in the future.

These were the main topics

Issues such as geopolitical shocks, the need to improve living conditions by stimulating growth and the urgency of driving a just and inclusive energy transition were addressed. Through dialogue, the Forum asks how we can avoid an era of fragmentation and instead cooperate and work together to find an agenda where we can address these universal challenges, from climate change to the ethical use of AI, through collaborative innovation, shared values and a common journey. 

Davos 2025 theme: Collaboration for the smart era

Under the slogan "Collaboration for the intelligent era", the Forum focused the sessions on five different themes, although they are closely interrelated:

• Rebuilding trust
• Reimagining growth
• Investing in people
• Protecting the planet
• Industries in the intelligent era

Each of these topics has managed to foster conversation among experts in the field, generating interesting debates, marking the next steps for society and companies, as well as raising public awareness of issues that we must address sooner rather than later in order to continue to prosper. Undoubtedly, always from a technological approach and with an eye on the future.

The following is a brief summary of the topics.

1. Rebuilding trust

At a time of polarization in geopolitics, increasing competition between world powers and a shift towards protectionism, international cooperation is at a crossroads. In "Rebuilding Trust", the Forum discusses how stakeholders can find new ways to collaborate in the search for solutions, both at the international level and within their own societies. The sessions, always from a governance approach, focused mainly on the geopolitical and economic issues of the different regions, analyzing the specific situations of each continent, as well as specific sessions to deal with diplomacy in the midst of disorder, on how to deal with disinformation, bearing in mind that, in 2024, half of the global population had to deal with it during elections in their respective countries. A particularly interesting session was the "Current Situation: Governance of AI", where they addressed the dilemma of Responsible Artificial Intelligence in a context of competitiveness, innovation and ethics. 

2. Reimagining growth

From a macroeconomic approach, the theme "Reimagining Growth" addresses the current global fiscal and monetary situation. Focusing on innovation as the fundamental tool, they explore the various routes to avoid falling into the "Tepid Twenties", a term that describes the decade in which we find ourselves, marked by slow growth, unprecedented levels of debt and depleted fiscal buffers. In this context, the sessions investigate, among many other topics, global markets, financial systems and try to find out how central banks will act on interest rates this year. The "Global Economic Outlook" session, with the notable presence of, among others, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, or Laurence D. Fink, CEO of Blackrock, one of the largest asset management firms, discusses the challenges that are stalling our growth, while at the same time presenting us with astronomical levels of debt and geo-economic tensions. 

3. Investing in people

From the social sphere, in "Investing in People", the challenges have been addressed in a comprehensive manner. In a year in which Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are at stake, it is important to continue promoting these initiatives to achieve a more equal and just society. In this topic, challenges such as the demographic situation and the labor market have been addressed, in particular, how to implement policies that allow the reskilling and upskilling of employees in order to meet the demands of the economy in terms of the millions of new jobs in emerging and frontier fields. From Forética, we are working, in a pragmatic way, to support and make visible the business action in Spain to face this challenge, promoting a future of work marked by digital transformation and green employment. Another of the most recurring themes in this area has been that of health, and the impact it has on our daily lives. From the dilemma of the growing obesity rate on a global scale, to the interconnection between health and prosperity, or even mental health in the work context. In this regard, from Forética we have promoted an initiative designed to transform the health sector towards ESG sustainability, where the positive social impact will be maximized. 

4. Protecting the planet

Currently, less than 2% of donations from philanthropy are earmarked for climate and nature. In the session "Climate Finance: More actors, more tools" the panelists discuss how to leverage and unify philanthropy in order to mobilize capital and collaborate on innovative solutions. The discourse is closely linked to that of COP29, consolidated as the "COP of finance". Precisely, in the theme "Protecting the planet", discussions were held on how to reach net-zero, either by providing a boost to decarbonization, encouraging the development of circularity or investing in nature positive actions. In this context, conversations are held in which the business case for caring for nature is raised, since more than 50% of the world's GDP is highly dependent on the natural resources that the planet offers us. Ways of aligning the three markets for nature, namely carbon, biodiversity and water credits, are being investigated. By 2030, half of the population will be water-stressed, which refers to the lack of freshwater availability in a specific region. This will lead to impacts on our economy, health and global food scarcity. From our Circular Economy Action Group, we are working on water circularity, exploring barriers in water management, seeking to increase water security. A particularly interesting session was the "New Trilemma: Climate, Development and the Middle Class", exchanging the topics in Dani Rodrik's famous Trilemma, who, together with Teresa Ribera, was one of the panelists. In this conversation, we investigated how to achieve a balance between these three principles, in a way that accelerates climate change mitigation while reducing poverty and protecting the bulk of society, being the workers and consumers. 

5. Industries in the intelligent era

Technology has become the leading force in altering and changing the business model across all sectors. Thus, the last theme, "Industries in the Smart Era," addressed how industries must prepare for technology shocks. Although AI had a special mention throughout the sessions, it was by no means exclusive of the other themes. One of the pillars, along with AI, was the role of biotechnology and how its development can be both fundamental and controversial, with ethical issues coming into question. The empowerment of nuclear energy through technological advances played an important role in this theme. The session "Road to the nuclear triple play" elaborated on how nuclear energy can enable us to achieve net-zero and energy transition goals, while ensuring safe use with the help of technology. It also elaborated on how we can use technology to empower different sectors, and how it should be the pillar on which industry relies to foster decarbonization.  

What we expect from this 2025...

Børge Brende, President and CEO of the World Economic Forum, closed the week with a brief session in which he emphasized that, although the year has only just begun, we already have plenty of open fronts that will shape the economic, political and social situation of our present and future. Through cooperation, innovation and using technology as a fundamental pillar, we will be able to face the challenges that lie ahead, so that today's ideas become tomorrow's solutions. In order to prepare ourselves for all the information in the world of corporate sustainability, we recommend that you read our latest "Trends 2025" report, which we hope will be of interest to you.